The State Diamond Mining Company of Angola (Endiama) and De Beers have agreed to extend a moratorium that expired on March 12. The two parties are working on the completion of a diamond exploration and mining deal.

Jose Semedo of Endiama and Gaspar Cardoso of De Beers said in a joint statement that, “the moratorium had been extended on the basis of the steadily improving relationship between the two parties and continuing good progress with their discussions.” A new deadline for completion of a deal has not been set.

The spokesmen, speaking in Luanda, Angola, said in the statement that, “the ongoing talks were being conducted on a highly professional basis with meticulous attention to detail.”

The moratorium agreement was signed on October 2002 and has been extended several times. For the past three weeks the negotiating teams have focussed on De Beers’ prospecting proposals in line with that company’s commitment to invest a significant amount of money to cover all stages–from prospecting to mining, and marketing its diamonds world-wide through De Beers’ Diamond Trading Company, according to the statement.

JCK